What Do Four Home Openers and Virtual Reality Have in Common?

By: Andrew | October 16th, 2009

A “brand in demand”, MLS will be showing off its pretty new toy to the soccer world at the start of next season. The Union will participate in the league’s First Kick in the Pacific Northwest and will help Toronto FC christen their newly installed grass pitch at the Reds’ home opener.

The team has also announced a season ticket cap and the launch of the Virtual Venue later this year, with December targeted to begin the seat selection process. It will be “the most interactive fan tool in the entire world of sports, taking users from the virtual stadium to integrated ticketing checkout faster and more efficiently than ever.”

The 16th team in the league – our beloved Union – opens the 2010 season on national television when they travel to Seattle to take on the Sounders. The game will take place on Thursday, March 25th at Qwest Field, and will be televised on ESPN2. Plan to stay up past your bedtime, as the game begins at 9:30 PM ET. Then the boys will come “home” and host DC United on Saturday, April 10th at Lincoln Financial Field. Seaport Drive won’t be completed by then, so the team’s temporary digs will be in South Philly. But the entire lower bowl of the Linc will be open, so the team’s historical first home game can potentially be seen by 35,000 passionate fans. Many DCU fans will make the trek up I-95, and the atmosphere is sure to be electric. Then they head north of the border and clash with Toronto FC on Saturday, April 17th, and maybe leave a little Canadian blood on their lush new pitch, eh. Then sometime a few weeks later – as the team doesn’t anticipate more than a handful of home games at the Linc – Seaport Drive will officially open its doors, and the Union will finally have its real home opener and begin to make Chester a fortress.

The team has been working with IOMedia to create a virtual stadium where season ticket holders can see what the view will be from their seat and various other stadium locations:

… while giving consumers the most up-to-date information available. Users receive the latest feedback on section demographics via an interactive poll given to those who already purchased seats in that section. Integrated 3D photorealistic illustrations and HD animation will also show how sun and shade affect each seat and suite’s view. Additionally, sponsors and advertisers will have the ability to select the most prominent locations for advertisements and signage.

IOMEDIA worked with the New York Yankees on their VR Seat Selector, and has further developed this technology to “create a truly next generation offering which will initially debut with Philadelphia Union”. Check out the teaser shots of the virtual stadium and interface below.

Sales_tool Seat_selector